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(No Model.) 5 a Sheets-8heet 1. H. A. CALDWELL. CLOTH CUTTING MACHINE.

No. 470,233. Patented Mar. 8, 1892.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. A. CALDWELL.

CLOTH CUTTING MACHINE. No. 470,233. Patented Mar. 8, 1892.

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No. 470,233. Patent-ed Mar. 8, 1892.

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THE MIR)? 5 PEYERS CO PHOTO LIYNO NASNI KGYLW D t UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

HENRY A. CALDWELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE ELECTRICCUTTING MACHINE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

CLOTH-CUTTING MACHINE.

:3PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 470,233, dated March8, 1892.

Application filed December 29, 1890. Serial No. 376,060. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY A. CALDWELL, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city of Chicago, county of Cook, and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCloth-Cutting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in cutting-machines, but moreparticularly to that class of cutting-machines designed for cuttingcloths or fabrics in which an electric motor is mounted upon and carriedby the machine for operating a reciprocating cutting-knife.

Prior to this invention, so far as I am aware, in all machines of thisclass the cutting-knife has been reciprocated in a straight line, insome cases vertically or perpendicular to the surface of the workingtable, and in others at an oblique angle thereto, but without producingthe draw cut so essential to the practical operation of a machinedesigned for cutting fabrics; nor have any of the prior machines beencapable of adjusting the line of cut stroke or line of action of theknife or the plane of its cutting-edge during its stroke to vary itscutting effect upon different fabrics, and in fact no such variation cantake place where the cutting-knife reciprocates in a straight line, nomatter what be its direction of reciprocation.

The prime object of this invention is toimpart to the knife acurvilinear line of travel or action and simultaneously therewith arocking or oscillation upon a shifting axis between the ends thereof,whereby the action of the knife will simulate that of the handknife andgive the fabrics what is technically known as a draw out, well known tobe the most effective cut in working upon fabrics because of theiryielding nature.

Another object is to have the machine of such character that thecurvilinear reciprocation or line of action of the knife may be .variedat the will of the operator, according to the class of goods upon whichthe machine is working, and that the plane of its cuttingedge willchange throughout its stroke, thereby enabling a deeper cut into thesoft fabrics at each stroke than in the harder or more compact'fabrics,and also a change in the angle or position in which the knife enters thefabric, whereby the machine is adapted for cutting all kinds of fabrics,and the action of the knife upon each kind of fabric is renderedefiective in the maximum degree.

These objects are attained by the devices illustrated in theaccompanying drawings,in which Figure 1 represents a side elevation of acloth-cutting machine embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a central verticalsection thereof; Fig. 3, a front elevation of the same; Fig. 4,

a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing a different kind of power foroperating the machine; Fig. 5, a horizontal section on the line 5 5 ofFig. 1; Fig. 6, a vertical section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 2; Figs. 7and 8, detail vertical sections on the lines 7 7 and 8 8, respectively,of Fig. 5; Fig. 9, a diagrammatical view more particularly intended toillustrate the curvilinear reciprocation of the knife, and Fig. 10 asimilar view of a modified construction for producing substantially thesame stroke of 75. the knife.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in the severalfigures of the drawings.

My invention is applicable to cutting-ma- 8o chines of all characters,but is more especially adapted for and is herein illustrated inconnection with a type of overboard clothcut-' ting machine, so calledbecause of 1ts being moved around by hand over the work-table when inoperation, the power for operating the machine being derived from somesuitable sourcesuch as an electric motor, mounted upon and carried bythe machine, or flexible. shafting or some similar device. 1 0 IReferring by letter to the accompanying drawings, A indicates a basehaving a fiat elliptical shape by preference because of the ease withwhich it may be inserted beneath the pile of goods, and, if desired,mounted upon anti-friction rollers, (not shown,) and B a slottedstandard secured to the base near the center thereof and supporting uponits upper end a bed or table C, carrying the working parts of themachine, it being preferable I00 in practice to have the standard andbed or table cast integrally in two parts for convenience in puttingtogether.

When the machine is electrically operated, an electrical motor D ismounted upon the table, the armature-shaft Eof which bears at one end ina bearing F, projecting up from the top of the table, and is cranked atG, immediately over the standard, to receive one end of a link H, theopposite end of which is pivotally connected with one arm I of abellcrank lever pivoted in an adjustable bearing J, the other arm K ofwhich has a'pivot connection with the knife L, working in the slot inthe standard. This knife is provided on its extreme lower end, as wellas throughout its length, with a cutting-edge, so that this end indescending a second time will cut any threads that may have been leftuncut by the said other cutting-edge at the previous down-stroke, thecutting-edge on the end of course extending transversely of the knife.The knife is restrained and guided in its reciprocations by a travelingpivot M between the ends thereof, conveniently furnished by a link N,which has a pivot connection with an adjustable bearing 0. As shown inthe drawings, this pivot M shifts or travels with the knife, so as toform a fulcrum for the knife, upon which it oscillates throughoutitsmovement, and the link N being shorter than the lever K it will thus beseen that the points of pivotal connection between the knife and thelever K and the link N are caused to travel through arcs of unequalradii and which radii are unchanging-that is, their respective lengthsdo not vary throughout the travel of the said pivots. The purpose ofthese link-and-lever connections between the motor-shaft, table, andknife is to not only convert the rotary motion of the crankshaft into areciprocating action of the knife, but to also cause the knife toreciprocate in a curved line, or, in other words, to impart to the knifea curvilinear line of action, besides which by changing the relativelengths of the arms Iand K of the bell-crank lever the length of strokeof the knife, as well as the leverage, may be changed, according to thecircumstances involved in the use of the machine. It

will also be seen by an inspection of Fig. 9 that the knife has acompound action, for besides having the curvilinear line of travel oraction above referred to induced by its traveling pivot it has at thesame time a rocking or oscillating motion upon this pivot under theinfluence of thelever which causes its reciprocation. Thus the positionof the knife, or rather the plane of its cutting-edge, is constantlychanging throughout the stroke both up and down, imparting to the knifea draw cut, which cannot be produced by a knife reciprocating in astraight line.

By having the pivot of the bell-crank lever adjustable vertically andthe traveling pivot of the knife adjustable horizontally, or either oneor both of these pivots adjustable in any manner, according to theconstruction of the machine, an infinite variety of changes in thecurvilinear reciprocation or line of action of the cutting-knife, aswell as the plane of its cutting-edge during action, may be efiected,for every change in the position of either one of these pivots willefiect a corresponding change in the line of action of the knife andalso the plane of its cutting-edge at different parts of the stroke.

I may here state that my invention broadly consists in means forimparting to the knife .two simultaneous movements-to wit, a curvilinearreciprocation and a rocking or oscillation upon a shifting axis betweenthe ends of the knifetl1us causing a constant change in the plane of thecutting-edge of the knife during its reciprocations, and any means foraccomplishing this result is within the scope of my invention, for manysuch means will readily suggest themselves to one skilled in the art towhich my invention appertainssuch, for instance, as dispensing with thebell-crank lever and link and connecting the crank itself directly tothe knife or changing the form of the lever connecting the crankliukwith the knife into a straight lever, as

illustrated in diagram in Fig. 10. So, also, may the cam N, as shown inFig. 10, be substituted for the link N, with the pivot M, rig idlysecured to the knife and working in the groove in the cam, and likewisefor the lever K might be substituted a cam similar to the cam N, eitheralone or in addition to the cam N, substituted for the lower link, whichchanges are so obvious as not to require fur ther illustration than thatfurnished in the diagrammatic illustration in Fig. 10.-

For adjusting the pivot bearing the bellcrank lever any suitable meansmay be employed, a simple form of which is shown in the drawings,consisting of a screw P, having a swivel connection with the bearing Jand workin g through a screw-threaded cap Q, connecting the two sectionsof the table, which screw is provided with a head or thumb piece R forconvenience of manipulation, and a lock-nut S for securing the screw inany adjusted position. So, also, with the adjustment of the bearing 0 ofthe link N, which may be readily accomplished by providing the latterwith a screw-threaded socket T, in which works a screw-bolt U, bearingin but having no endwise movement in the bed or table 0 and beingprovided with a head or thumb piece V for convenience of manipulation;or

any other means may be employed for effecting the same end. The bed ortable may be also provided at the front and rear end thereof withirregular-shaped sockets W to receive a corresponding-shaped foot X of ahandle Y for detachably securing the handle to either end of the bed inorder that the machine may be either pushed or pulled in operation. Avertically-adjustable presser-foot a, is also provided, carried at thelower end of a slotted bar b, working in an opening in or be- IIO tweenthe sections of the bed or table, through the slot in which projects aset-screw'c, having a head at one end and a thumb-nut d at the oppositeend, by means of which the presser-foot may be secured in any adjustedposition. This bar, which extends parallel with the knife, opposing thecutting-edge thereof, is also provided with obliquely-arranged Wings 6,lying at each side of the knife and encompassing the cutting-edgethereof and extending up between and overlapping the sections of the bedor table, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the operator is relieved of thedanger of being cut by the knife, the wings being of such length as toalways oppose the cutting-edge of the knife, notwithstanding theadjustment of the presser-foot.

I also propose to have the lower end of the ter is countersunk in thebase A, these plates being separated in the line of action of the knife,so as to permit the passage of the knife between them, and thus severany shreds which maybe carried down by the knife and also prevent theaccumulation of lint, which might otherwise affect the operation of theknife, the platesf for this purpose being reversely beveled on the underside of the opposing edges, as shown in Fig. 8, forward of the standard,to form the cutting-edges. In most of the work done by acutting-machine, however, the top of the pile of cloth operated upon ismuch above the range of action of the lower edge of the knife, and Ihave found by practice that in cutting such piles the lower edge of theknife may be blunt or unsharpened, for the pile is almost invariablyfirst engaged by the side cutting-edge of the knife alone for thepurpose just mentioned, but also.

to extend the range of usefulness of the knife to the lowest piles whichit may be found desirable to out, which piles are sometimes so low thatthe lower edge of the knife will rise above the top of the pile at eachstroke, and in such cases only is it necessary that the lower edge ofthe knife should be sharpened, for obviously so long as the lower edgeof the knife does not impinge directly upon the top of the goods itcannot take part in or perform any of the cutting operation, andtherefore need not be sharpened or formed into a cutting-edge except togive a better finish to the cut, and I therefore do not desire to limitmy invention to sharpening the lower end of the cutting-knife.

While I have shown and described my invention in connection with anelectricallyoperated machine it is obvious that the knife may as well bedriven by a flexible shaft hsuch as that illustrated in Fig. 4, or byany other suitable or desirable powerfor the means for driving the knifeform no part of .the present invention, nor in fact is the use of aknife operated as before described limited to a cloth-cutting machine asthe knife or some other cutting-tool when so operated may obviously beemployed in other machines for the purpose and for operating upon othermaterials than cloth or fabrics.

Among the advantages of reciprocating the knife in a curved line, asbefore mentioned, is that of securing a draw out, which is the mostefficient cut in operating upon fabrics whether hard or soft being inclose simulation of the action of the hand-knife used for this purpose,and an equally if not more import-ant advantage is that the powerrequired for operating such a knife has been practically demonstrated byme to be far less than that required for operating cuttingknivesreciprocating in a straight line, in fact not one-fourth of the powerheretofore required, while the machine effectually accomplishes the workupon all kinds of fabrics,

thus effecting great economy in the working of the machine and whenelectrically operated greatly reducing the weight-and cost of the motor.

My invention relates more particularly to overboard cloth-cuttingmachines, and hence the shifting pivot or fulcrum of the cuttingknifebetween the ends thereof is of especial importance in that in this classof machines it is essential that the lower end of the knife be free andunhampered by any link or driving connection at its lower end whichwould interfere with the introduction and passage of the knife throughthe cut, would shiftand disarrange the layers of cloth, and besideswould prevent the traveling or swinging of the lower ends of the knifein making the cut, an action essential to an effectual draw cut.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent,

1. A cloth-cutting machine comprising a movable frame or support, areciprocating knife mounted therein, means for reciprocating the same ina'curved line, and a shifting pivot or fulcrum for said knife betweenthe ends thereof, substantially as described.

2. A cloth-cutting machinecomprising a movable base or support, aslotted standard mounted thereon,a frame or table supported on saidstandard, a reciprocating knife working in said standard, means forreciprocating the same in a curved line, and a shifting pivot or fulcrumfor said knife between the ends thereof, substantially as described.

In a cloth-cutting machine, the combination, with the power-shaft, acutting-knife, and a connection between said shaft and knife, wherebythe latter will be reciprocated in a curved line by the rotation of theformer, of a shifting pivot or fulcrum for said knife between the endsthereof, substantially as set forth.

4. In a cloth-cutting machine, the combination, with the power-shaft,the knife, and a connection between the said shaft and the knife,whereby the latter will be reciprocated in a curved line by the rotationof the former, of an adjustable shifting pivot or fulcrum for said knifebetween the ends thereof,substantially as set forth.

5. In a cloth-cutting machine, the combination, with the power-shaft,the knife, and the connection between said shaft and knife, whereby thelatter will be reciprocated in a curved line by the rotation of theformer, of a link pivotally secured at its ends, respectively, to themachine-frame and to the knife between the ends thereof, substantiallyas set forth.

6. In a cloth-cutting machine, the combination, with the power-shaft,the knife, and a connection between said shaft and knife, whereby thelatter will be reciprocated by the rotation of the former, of a link,pivots conmeeting the ends of said links, respectively, with the knifebetween the ends thereof and with an adjustable bearing, substantiallyas set forth.

7. In a cloth-cutting machine, the combination, with the power-shaft,the knife, and a lever connection between said shaft and knife, wherebythe latter will be reciprocated by the rotation of the former, of aShifting pivot or fulcrum for said knife between the ends thereof,substantially as set forth.

8. In acloth-cutting machine, the combination, with the power-shaft, acutting-knife having a cutting-edge on its extreme end extendingtransversely 'of or at an angle to the knife, .and a connection betweensaid shaft and knife, whereby the latter will be reciprocated in acurved line by the rotation of the former, of a shifting pivot orfulcrum for said knife between the ends thereof, substantially as setforth. i

9. Ina cloth-cutting, machine, the combination, with the power-shaft,the knife having a cutting-edge on its extreme end extendingtransversely of orat an angle to the knife, and a connection betweensaid shaft and knife, whereby the latter will be reciprocated in acurved line by the rotation of the former, of an adjustable shiftingpivot or fulcrum for said knife between the ends thereof, substantiallyas set forth.

10. In a cloth-cutting machine, the combination, with the power-shaft,the knife having a cutting-edge on its extreme end extendingtransversely of or at an angle to the knife, and the connection betweensaid shaft and knife, whereby the latter will be reciprocated in acurved line by the rotation of the former, of a link pivotally securedat its ends, respectively, to the machine-frame and to the knife betweenthe ends thereof, substantially as set forth.

11. In a cloth-cutting machine, the combination, with the power-shaft,the knife having a cutting-edge on its extreme end extendingtransversely of the knife, and aconnection between said shaft and knife,whereby the latter will be reciprocated by the rotation of the former,of a link, pivots connecting the ends of said link, respectively, withthe knife between the ends thereof, and with an adj ustable bearing,substantially as set forth.

12. In a cloth-cutting machine, the combination, with the power-shaft,the knife having a cutting-edge on its extreme end extendingtransversely of the knife, and a leverconnection between said shaft andknife, whereby the latter will be reciprocated by the rotation of theformer, of a shifting pivot or fulcrum for said knife between the endsthereof, substantially as set forth.

13. In a cloth-cutting machine, the combination, with the power-shaftprovided with a crank portion, the knife, a lever, a link connectionbetween said lever and the crank of the shaft, and a pivot connectionbetween said lever and the knife, of a shifting pivot or fulcrum forsaid knife between the ends thereof, substantially as set forth.

14. In a cloth-cutting machine, the combination, with the power'shaftprovided with a crank portion, the knife, a lever, an adjustable pivotfor said lever, a link connection between said lever and the crank ofthe shaft, and a pivot connection between said lever and the knife, of ashifting pivot or fulcrum for said knife between the ends thereof,substantially as set forth.

15. In a cloth-cntting machine, the combination, with the power-shaft,the knife having a cutting-edge on its extreme end extendingtransversely of or at an angle to the knife, and a connection betweensaid knife and shaft, whereby the knife will be reciproeated in a curvedline by the rotation of the shaft, of a link pivotally seen red at itsends, respectively, to the machine and to the knife between the saidcutting-edge on the extremity thereof and the said connection betweenthe shaft and knife, substantially as set forth.

16. In a cloth-cutting machine, the combination, with the power-shaftprovided with a crank portion, the knife, a lever, a link connectionbetween said lever and the crank of the shaft, and a pivot connectionbetween said lever and the knife, of a link pivotally connected at itsends, respectively, with the IIO frame of the machine and to the knifebetween the ends thereof, substantially as set forth.

17. In a cloth-cutting machine, the combination, with the section of thebed or table, the slotted standard, and the base supporting the same, ofa reciprocating cutting-knife and a vertically-adjustable presser-footprovided with wings embracing the cutting-edge of said knife betweensaid presser-foot and the upper end of the knife, and said wingsextending between and overlapping the sections of the bed or table,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

18. In a cloth-cutting machine, the combination, with the power-shaftprovided with a crank portion, the knife, alever, an adjustable pivot orfulcrum for said lever, alink connection between said lever and thecrank of the shaft, and a pivot connection between said lever and-theknife, of a link pivotally connected at its ends, respectively, to theframe of the machine and to the knife between the ends thereof,substantially asset forth.

19. In a cloth-cutting machine, the combiends thereof, substantiallynation, with the powefishaft provided with a crank portion, the knife, alever, a link connect-ion between said lever and the crank of the shaft,and a pivot connection between said lever and the knife, of link andpivot connections, respectively, between one end of said link and anadjustable bearing and the other end of said link and the knife between'the ends of the latter, substantially as described. 20. In acloth-cutting machine, the comb1- nation, with the power-shaft providedwith a crank portion, the knife, a lever, an adjustable pivot or fulcrumfor said lever, a link connection between said lever and the crank ofthe shaft, and a pivot connection between said lever and the knife, of alink and a pivot connection between one end of said link and anadjustable bearing and between the other end of said link and the knifebetween the as set forth. HENRY A. UALDVVELL.

Witnesses:

R. O. OMOHUNDRO,

JAMES R. SooTT.

